Mopartist

This is the first time I've read a technical post concerning shocks that didn't fly over my head! And they are way cheaper than others too. (But I don't get why the bolts are so dang long!) Seems like you could just buy shorter grade 8 bolts?

Whoops; I didn't see that your Webshots pics were a series. Awesome! Your info makes our club obsolete. Thanks!

I contacted FOA through their EBay ad. The guy got back to me and said "Oh you need to talk to my Joyner guy. Here's his info" (literally) "JD @ _________ " No email address, no number, no nothin Wow; thanks a million. I Googled JD@ for an hour and got no strikes ! Duurrrrrr. I see guys here and on other websites selling their Troopers with "King Shocks; Fox Shocks; Rancho Shocks; and Bilstein Shocks; not to mention Walker Evans Shocks and Afco Shocks and others" but nobody is willing to say "This is what I used; this is the travel, the valving, the compression, the rebound; the spring, and they work great. Just call so and so at Shock City and he sells lots of these for Troopers, so he knows the hot setup. I emailed the guys at Silverbullet about their "Bilstein" piggyback shock setup last week. I haven't heard a word back on it. Theres now 4 of us in the "Shocked Dummy Club" and i'll bet there will be many more soon. I really appreciate all the modifications done as far as lowering diffs, or going to 15 inch car tires, or long travel A-Arms and axles;..... but many guys just upgrade. Why is it so secretive? Believe me; I won't be passing you in the Baja 1000. I just want to crawl and cruise

For simplicity; could you just tell me what to buy? But actually; I'm looking at several shock manufacturers, and i just don't have the knowhow to even use their shock compression/dampening/rebound/preload calculators. How would I get the weight of each corner? (I've broken 3 bathroom scales already and my wife is pissed) How do I come up with an idea of the right valving for compression and rebound? Well; I leave it up to you guys who are saavy with this technology; but by the time I get through 5 or 6 posts; I'm at a loss because I'm just a hobbiest off roader. And Rocmoc and Lenny have modified suspensions. So is there a list of pertinent information for stock suspension Trooper 2s; and do shock manufacturers have the "Hot setup" for the Trooper dialed in so when you inquire; you don't really have to admit you are a dummy? I've contacted FOA and am having quite a cunundrum trying to get an idea of what I want/need. And I do feel like a dummy I want "cushey"....... I want "travel". I think I read somewhere on one of the posts that their Trooper rode like a Trophy Truck. Yeah yeah! I want that! But I don't want what the Trooper already has....a non adjustable nitrogen charge and a MUCH too stiff spring. I don't understand why Joyner would put a non working shock system on their vehicles. Mine rides like a hardtail Harley (even with lowering the preload adjustment). The rear Bighorn tires helped SOME; but not much

Strike that.....It won't work. See thats why i'm not a professional mechanic. Live and learn

Awwwwwww!Yer right. I was so excited about the find that I forgot to check the steering. Oh well; It seems like a 1.5" spacer will do the trick huh?

For years I have heard that you can't use the rear tire and wheel on the front of a Trooper (for all those who have a rear spare that can't use it on the front) Well; today, I was messin around in tha garage and decided I'd like proof that it wouldn't work. So I swapped them; and to my surprise; THE REAR TIRE AND WHEEL DOES FIT ON THE FRONT. I checked all the pertinent areas where it MIGHT encounter a problem and couldn't find any. There is at least 3/8 clearance all around. But there is one thing that might make a difference though. I replaced my rear stock "Far East" tires with Maxxis BigHorns (AT26 X 11R14) It might be that the Far East tires bulge a bit more on the sidewall; thus interfering with the coilover spring. Personally; I may go ahead and use spacers in the front. The only drawback is that my flares won't be sufficiantly wide enough to protect you from the roost off the front tires. Without spacers; the sidewall is in the same alignment as the original front tires as the wider rear wheel is all offset on the inside. Anyways; they sure look nice on the front. I'm definately going with the same size on all 4.

Seems like I read somewhere that these are nitrogen charged "like" the originals, and are not adjustable other than the coilover preload setting. I know the "other" brands are really spendy; but for me; I'm just gonna wait until I can afford the King shocks at $2300. Thats the single biggest upgrade i want to do to my Trooper.

Isn't it funny (funny parculiar...not funny Ha ha ) that the older you get the more accident prone you become? And with all these young guys doing backflips on bikes, quads, and snowmobiles just daring the devil to take them out.; I go to brush my teeth and stab myself in the face! Hope you both feel better quickly. It takes a long time to recover these days too!

Hey bud; I've been looking for the thread where you posted a pic of an alternate top shock tower mount. The stock location seems to be pretty plumb. Did you fab epper AND lower mounts for the new shocks?

Wow! Thats terrific!!! Great job! .....and suicide style! How did you end up latching and skinning them? Oh man! Is that a racing type gas filler cover?

I'll tell ya Rock; my wife and I are about ready to move to Sedona or sumpin like it.......we've about had it with all the snow and ice. After 17 years; we are finally cooled off to the core. I almost had our Trooper sold in November; and I was lookin at new Polaris Pro RMK snowmobiles....but after starting up my welder; and doing some mods to the Trooper; I came to my senses and decided I was gonna sooner or later move south for full on retirement and off roading (my first love) Someday that will surely happen! (Hopefully)

I just thought I'd add an update for Feb. 25. We are usually in the high 40s by now average; but today it is 13 F this afternoon, and supposed to go down to -3 tonight. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I don't believe in global warming but I may believe in climate change. This is just too wierd!

I just thought I'd jump in here if ya don't mind. Thats called a "Lambo" door kit. The "Autoloc" website has them as well as a bunch of others on EBay. The thing is that they are heavy and need substantial thickness in the doors to hide the hinge mechanism. I was going to put them on my classic Mini, but the doors aren't big enough without mega fabrication.....but....it has actually been done. That would definately be cool though on a Trooper!

Lookin great Roc!

There's a slight possibility of my in-laws coming too from Henderson, NV. They have one of those Flintstone cars called a "Dino" or "Rhino" or something like that.

After checking out the other thread concerning where the Jamboree will take place; It looks like I probably will be able to make it at the end of June. Those dates look good (tenetavely) Is the road (Poison Springs) off of 95 to the "camp" area in good shape for motorhome travel ? (I realize I could assume that, but just wanted to make sure before driving 900 miles.) Actually we have relatives in Henderson that we'll go see after the Jamboree. Sounds like a GREAT time!!! WooHoooo!

Wow; thats pretty slick! Thanks guys! I was gonna just use some poly plastic sheeting; but if I did have a fire; that wouldn't be good.......In fact it would PROVIDE fuel for the flames Maybe I'll go ahead with sheet metal and some sound deadening material. I bought this stuff for my Mini project; and they say it works really well with rattling metal. My Mini van sounds like yer driving inside a beer can; so I needed it pretty bad as I'm at the point of priming; painting, and re-assembly http://www.quietrock.com/soundproof-products/quietcoat.html

These are the Bilstiens?

I was just wondering if any of you have done a firewall for noise reduction and dust management? (Dust in the draft is the worse) This is one thing I plan on doing because it (for me) is two of the biggest drawbacks in cruising off road. I've seen that they have kits available for Rhino's (probably the others too) ; and it seems like it would be fairly easy to pretty much seal up that area between the seats and the motor. I guess I'm fishing to see if anyone has already made a template.

Woooops; sorry about that! I didn't realize.....I'll watch it from now on.

Whew! Thats a big hauler. My wife and I keep changing our minds. I have an 07 Dodge Ram 1500 (1/2 ton) So my thinking was to trade it for an 05' Ram 3/4 with a Cummins Deisle in it to pull the hauler we found.. But yesterday we went down to our local Toy Hauler dealer to measure and make sure the Trooper would fit; and my wife changed her mind after seeing it (which in turn changed my mind as well) The trailer was just too plain......mostly cargo area with fold down bench seats. I tiny front bed that you would have to crawl into from the corner. It looked alot smaller in person than what the pictures showed on their website. And the floor width was right at 60 inches......too close for not breaking the handles off of the cabinet doors eventually. So now we're back in to looking for a good used Class C; and we've found one. Maybe this week I'll go drive it and see if we can make a deal. Our Subaru STI is just sitting in the garage all winter; so I think I may just trade that in (after removing the Alpine GPS/DVD unit, amp, woofer, and wheels) Who knows? I'll probably change my mind again a couple times before it becomes "riding season"

Oh; I'm a die hard Joyner Trooper guy. The only Polaris I would buy is a Pro RMK snowmobile. I believe with the right tweaks; our Troopers can outperform anything out there! I would love to smoke a 900 Polaris for breakfast. The only thing they have going for them is their power to weight ratio. I think that can be taken care of . Plus they have such a narrow stance (comparitively speaking of coarse) ......I know.........pipe dreams.

It's been in the 50s all week here in Oregon ! This is usually snow time for us. I almost traded in my SXS for a snowmobile in December! Glad I didn't ! Wierd